Frequently asked questions

If you are a Norwegian citizen living abroad, and wish to change your name, you need to complete a name change form (“Melding om endring av navn”) and send it to the Norwegian Tax Administration, who is responsible for the National Registry. Likewise, if your name has ever been changed it is your responsibility to make sure that the name change has been registered in the National Registry.Name change notifications must be sent by post by applicants to the following address:

Skatt nord Hammerfest

Personregistret

9613 Hammerfest

Norway

Please note that all photocopied supporting documentation must be certified by a Norwegian authority (Embassy or Consulate).

The Royal Norwegian Embassy cannot authenticate a document on behalf of a Norwegian Authority but can only legalize documents* in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development (Global Affairs) in Ottawa.

Therefore, documents must be legalized through the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development (Global Affairs) in Ottawa. This procedure departs from the fact that (a) Canadian documents must be authenticated in Canada and (b) Canada is not a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention (Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents).

Read more about the legalization process at the Department of Foreign Affairs here.

Please note that a form should accompany the documents. The form can be found on the website listed above. Please send documents to:

You will find the application form as well as a list of required documents on the link above.

Any further questions must be directed to the Norwegian Police Authority.

This information is useful for both Norwegian and foreign nationals planning to get married in Norway.

More information about getting married in Norway can be found on the Skatteetaten's website - please see getting married in Norway.

In order to get married in Norway, you have to contact the Norwegian Population Registry (folkeregisteret) in the town where you want to marry. They will inform you of the necessary documentation to provide. You will have to provide proof that you are not already married in Canada.

This document is available from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa. Contact:

Certification and Authentication of Documents Program at DFADT.

Ask for:

Statement in lieu of certificate of non-impediment to marriage for persons wishing to get married outside of Canada

Address:

Certification and Authentication of Documents

Lester B. Pearson Building

125 Sussex Dr.

Ottawa, ONT

K1A 0G2

Authentication/legalization of relevant certificates

All documents listed on Skatteetatens website need to be authenticated through the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development in Ottawa before the wedding.

The following information explains how to obtain a copy of a Norwegian Birth Certificate (fødselsattest):

If you were born in Norway, and presently live in Norway, contact your local tax office.

If you were born in Norway, but now live abroad, you have to contact the population registry in the town they last lived in before they left Norway.

You can apply to obtain a copy of your birth certificate from the Norwegian Directorate of Taxes which is responsible for the National Population Register (in Norwegian "Folkeregisteret").

If you were born outside Norway, and now live in Norway, you will need to contact the public records office in your country of birth to obtain a copy of your birth certificate. You can seek assistance from your country of birth's Embassy in Norway.

For birth certificates other than your own, you may be required to document sufficient need for the document.

If you need a birth certificate for someone who lived in Norway prior to December 1946, you will need to contact the church office in the municipality where they were born to get a copy of their birth certificate. You can read more about obtaining certificates for ancestors on the web site of the National Archives of Norway .

For those born in Norway before (1967), you will most likely not be in the population registry. You will mostly likely have a baptism certificate and with that the Embassy can begin to help you get registered.

Under the ‘Convention between the Government of the Kingdom of Norway and the Government of Canada for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital’ (signed July 12th 2002), Norway has the right to tax all pensions that originate from Norway.

According to the new tax rules on withholding tax, residents of Canada will be taxed (deducted) by Norway on the pensions they receive from Norway starting from 2010.

A 15% “source tax” will automatically be deducted from the pension in connection with its payment and no other documentation is needed.

Avoidance of double taxation is regulated by the tax agreement between Norway and Canada; Canada, as the country of residence, is responsible for avoiding any double taxation.

The individual taxpayer must contact and inform the taxation authorities in Canada that the Norwegian taxation should be taken into account in his/her tax assessment. The individual taxpayer is also responsible to claim compensation. Most countries’ taxation authorities (tax offices) have information about how to avoid double taxation.

On the side, you will find a link to the ‘Convention between the Government of the Kingdom of Norway and the Government of Canada for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital’ (signed July 12th 2002) (on page 11 and onwards, you will find the English and Norwegian texts side by side):

Pension Applicants

Applications for pension from Norwegian National Insurance Scheme go through Canada.

The system works on double taxation: 15% is automatically deducted from the amount given to the recipient. The recipient is responsible for ensuring that they are not double-taxed by the Canadian authorities.

Different rules apply to individuals with a driver's licence issued in the European Economic Area (EEA) and to those with a driver's licence issued outside this area; see the Norwegian Public Road Aministration's website for more information.